Every Breath You Take
by E.M.K.81
Summary: Summary: Entry for Not A Ghost 3's Phantom's Valentine one shot contest. Modern day AU. Christine and her best friend Meg discuss Valentine.


**Every Breath You Take**

 _Summary: Entry for Not A Ghost 3's Phantom's Valentine one shot contest. Modern day AU. Christine and her best friend Meg discuss Valentine._

It was Valentine's day 2018. Being a classical singer Christine received lots of Valentine greetings from admirerers, not as many as singers in famous bands did, but she appreciated that the hype around classical singers was not as threatening as around some modern singers. Crazy fans could be very frightening.

Her phone rang. "Hey, it is me, Meg, I am standing before your door. Are you home?"

With a sigh she went to open. Why couldn't Meg announce her visit like anyone else? Ask if she could come over before she was doing it?

"HEEEY!" Meg greeted her with a hug, threw her shopping bags in a corner and went to see the large flower bouquet on the table. "Wow," she exclaimed as she saw the carefully arranged flowers and the parcels neatly placed on the table. "Wow. Did you get this from your friend? It looks like Christmas only with flowers instead of a tree!"

"Maybe..." Christine shrugged. To her this wasn't as exciting.

"You didn't even open them? When did you find them?"

"This morning," Christine sighed, "I woke up and everything was there."

Meg clapped her hands. "Your friend must be a very romantic guy! I don't know why you hide him like this. Afraid that someone will steal him from you?"

Christine just thought _More hoping someone would_. She certainly did not find it very romantic.

"Why don't we open them?" Meg asked excited.

"As you wish," Christine went back to the couch and listlessly zapped through TV chanels while Meg began to carefully unwrap the parcels. The young woman on the couch watched her friend and pondered how different they were. She, the blonde singer, always considered herself a wallflower. She was shy, she preferred to be left alone and didn't like to be at the center of everyone's attention - to be true she didn't want any attention at all. Meg was completely different. While Christine preferred her grey casual suit, Meg looked like she was going to an exclusive party even in the morning. Christine didn't like make up and fancy hairstyles, she didn't wear much jewelry. Meg was painted like an oil painting and of course wore earrings, a necklace, rings...

"O wow, WOW, that's great!" Meg cried out and showed her the contents of a parcel. It was a pearl collier. "And that only for Valentine! What is he going to get you for Christmas or your birthday? A car?"

"This flat," Christine sighed, "He gave me this flat last Christmas." It was a nice small appartement with a kitchen-livingroom and a seperate bedroom and a bathroom. A nice small flat for one person to live in a respectable quarter.

"And you hide THIS guy? He buys you a flat for Christmas and you HIDE him? I want to see him!"

"No you don't!" Christine snapped irritated.

Meg frowned. "Christine, this is... what's the matter? That guy bought you a FLAT and he seems to have a great taste in flowers, in jewelry and in champagne! Did you have this CD player before? No? And the CD shelf in form of a column?"

"No. That wasn't there yesterday."

Meg took a CD she didn't know. It had a cover unlike every other, showing a red heard and the golden letters "My heart will always be your's, my Christine". "Did he make a CD for you?"

"He does that every so often. His own compositions, sometimes cover versions of other songs."

"He is a composer? Do I know him?"

Christine shrugged. "You might have already heard his work without knowing. He writes mostly background music for movies."

"This sounds as if you do not like what he's doing?"

"It is not that. Music is just a hobby, he makes his living in another way. Something with IT, don't ask me for details."

Meg put the CD in the player and pressed the button PLAY.

The music started. It was a cover version od "Every breath you take" by Sting.

 _Every breath you take_  
 _And every move you make_  
 _Every bond you break, every step you take_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _Every single day_  
 _And every word you say_  
 _Every game you play, every night you stay_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _Oh, can't you see_  
 _You belong to me?_  
 _How my poor heart aches_  
 _With every step you take_  
 _And every move you make_  
 _And every vow you break_  
 _Every smile you fake, every claim you stake_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace_  
 _I dream at night, I can only see your face_  
 _I look around but it's you I can't replace_  
 _I feel so cold and I long for your embrace_  
 _I keep crying baby, baby please_  
 _Oh Mummy, oh oh_  
 _Oh, can't you see_  
 _You belong to me?_  
 _How my poor heart aches_  
 _With every step you take_  
 _And every move you make_  
 _And every vow you break_  
 _Every smile you fake, every claim you stake_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _Every move you make, every step you take_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _I'll be watching you_  
 _Every breath you take_  
 _Every move you make_  
 _Every bond you break, every step you take_  
 _Every single day_  
 _Every word you say_  
 _Every game you play, every night you stay_  
 _Every breath you take_  
 _Every move you make_  
 _Every bond you break, every step you take_  
 _Every single day_  
 _Every word you say_  
 _Every game you play, every night you stay_  
 _Every breath you take_  
 _Every move you make_  
 _Every bond you break, every step you take_  
 _Every single day_  
 _Every word you say_  
 _I'll be watching you_

And it ended with the added line "I will always be there for you, when you need me. I will always protect you. Let me be your guide and guardian, let me be your faithful slave, let me be whatever you need me to be, just let me be yours."

Christine blushed and Meg dried her tears in a way that told Christine she had practiced this for a rather long time in front of a mirror. It was worth an Oscar in Hollywood. Meg could really dry her tears without smearing her make-up.

"This is so romantic!" Meg said, "And he has such a good voice! I don't know if I ever heard such a voice. The melody is not difficult but the way he sings it, with so much love and this fantastic voice - o God, Christine, you must be the happiest girl in the world!"

Christine sighed. No, she did not think this romantic. She thought it was extremely frightening because she knew precisely what Erik was telling her. She knew Erik and she knew what he was capable of. At first she had thought he was a friend, just someone giving friendly avise when he offered her music lessons. She had been a student at a conservatory and went to a sound studio where the music for a movie was to be recorded. They wanted a chorus and she hoped it would help her career.

Two days later she received a call from a man who called himself Erik and introduced himself as music teacher, offering her lessons for free. She accepted and made the mistake of her life - she went to his place. He had a large house in the outskirts with a big garden. He was rich, that much was obvious. She had been surprised that he wore a mask, but he explained it that it was necessary because he had recently suffered a car accident and had sever burn wounds. It was a lie like so many others. He never removed the mask, not even after a year when the wound surely must have been healed. At first her life had become much easier. Immediately after finishing her education she had become a soloist in the local opera house. He had offered her a cheap flat close to the opera house, which he finally presented to her. Bought her a car, gave her everything she could ever dream of. But at the same time she knew he was - literally - watching her. In the flat were some micros and cameras, he had observation tools in her car, in her smartphone, her watch and whatever else.

When she asked him about it, he claimed that it was just for her protection, but it annoyed her to no end that he kept coming to her flat to bring gifts. Gifts she never asked for but didn't dare to return. She had tried to run away, left everything and just left the flat. Only twenty minutes later his large Rolls Royce Phantom had stopped at the sidewalk, the window going down and his worried voice asked her to jump in so he could take her home. No rebukes, no anger. Just worry. But it frightened her how easily he found her when she tried to run from him.

She went to the police and told them there was a stalker and even his name and address. At first the policemen wanted to help her, then noticed something as they typed his name into their computer and sympathetically gave her the advise not to mess with that man. He was a special agent, working for the government and he was the best in observation technology. Thanks to him criminal organizations and terror cells were arrested and brought to justice, thanks to him cruel dictators all over the world would fall. The police needed this guy and would never tell him to leave the girl in peace as long as he just brought presents and didn't threaten her.

Which he did not. He did not need to. The presents he brought and the invitations she got told her that he literally knew about every move she made, every word she said and every breath she took. He used his knowledge to produce a scandal and remove a diva who had mobbed her at the opera, he used his influence to get Meg a job as ballerina at the same opera house. Christine felt like she was his favorite pet and he pampered and spoiled her, but the same time HE was in control of every aspect of her life, he even made sure she had her best friend working at the same opera house.

Sometimes she thought she ought to be grateful that he was a gentleman. He never touched her and he promised he would never have any cameras in her bathroom, that he respected her privacy. Only if she stayed in the bathroom for more than two hours he suddenly stood in her flat, knocking at her bathroom door, panicked she might be ill and in need of help. But then - should she ever really need help she knew he would be there for her. He did not ask of anything in return, only that she allowed him to help her. He claimed he only wanted what was best for her and that seeing her smile was more than enough to reward him. He never asked anything of her.

But the only male friend - a navy commander - had been promoted captain and send on a two years mission somewhere far away on a mission where he could not contact her because every communication that could give away the ship's location could compromise the mission. She wondered if this was just what happened in the navy or if Erik had something to do with it.

Of course she could not tell Meg. Meg wouldn't understand, Meg didn't know what it was like to be the pet of such a man like Erik.

* * *

Erik leaned back in his seat and smiled as he sipped his tea. He saw Christine smile and blush and appreciated how excited Meg was and how much she praised him. Christine seldom said such things. But she smiled eventually, her blush making her face even more beautiful.

O how much he loved her! He wanted to throw himself at her feet and tell her how much he loved her, but it was too soon, far too soon. She would not accept him. He would have to excert superhuman patience if he ever hoped that she would as much as accept him as a friend. He did not dare hope for more, but if she accepted him as her friend she might eventually find it in her to love him. He didn't think of this decent beauty as his wife, no, he knew this was impossible. No one would ever touch him or endure his touch and he had long ago accepted her.

But when he first heared her lovely voice the need to care for her and protect her woke and became stronger each passing day. For once he could use his many talents for something good, to give her the chance to live her dreams, to make her happy. Watching her being happy made him so happy, it was like a drug, he had never experienced such a high from any kind of drug. He could not get enough of her smile.


End file.
